Mercury General's (MCY) "Strong-Buy" Rating Reiterated at Raymond James Financial

Key Points

• Raymond James Financial has reaffirmed a "strong-buy" rating for Mercury General (NYSE: MCY) with a new price target of $90.00, indicating a potential upside of 28.35% from the current stock price.
• Mercury General recently reported quarterly earnings of $2.67 EPS, significantly exceeding analysts' expectations, along with a revenue of $1.48 billion.
• Several hedge funds have increased their stakes in Mercury General, with 42.39% of the stock currently owned by institutional investors.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "strong-buy" rating restated by stock analysts at Raymond James Financial in a report released on Monday, MarketBeat reports. They presently have a $90.00 target price on the insurance provider's stock, up from their prior target price of $80.00. Raymond James Financial's target price points to a potential upside of 27.05% from the stock's previous close.

Separately, Wall Street Zen raised Mercury General from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd.

Mercury General Price Performance

MCY traded up $0.50 during trading on Monday, reaching $70.84. 266,290 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 314,228. The company's 50-day moving average is $66.98 and its two-hundred day moving average is $59.13. Mercury General has a 12-month low of $44.19 and a 12-month high of $80.72. The company has a market cap of $3.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.06 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The insurance provider reported $2.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.10) by $2.77. Mercury General had a return on equity of 16.61% and a net margin of 6.76%. The firm had revenue of $1.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.45 billion. Research analysts forecast that Mercury General will post -0.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Mercury General

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MCY. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Mercury General during the 4th quarter valued at about $113,252,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new position in shares of Mercury General during the 1st quarter valued at about $53,535,000. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Mercury General during the 1st quarter valued at about $27,485,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Mercury General during the 1st quarter valued at about $12,515,000. Finally, Western Standard LLC bought a new position in shares of Mercury General during the 4th quarter valued at about $9,815,000. 42.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Mercury General

Mercury General Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in writing personal automobile insurance in the United States. The company also writes homeowners, commercial automobile, commercial property, mechanical protection, and umbrella insurance products. Its automobile insurance products include collision, property damage, bodily injury, comprehensive, personal injury protection, underinsured and uninsured motorist, and other hazards; and homeowners insurance products comprise dwelling, liability, personal property, and other coverages.